From Soccernet: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=244622&cc=5901 Guatemala coach Ramon Maradiaga was angry at referee Enrico Wijngaarde of Suriname, whose foul call when Ruiz kicked Howard nullified Guillermo Rodriguez putting the ball in the net. "They annulled a goal that was ours, and that happens because they name referees that lack the preparation to direct a game of this level. But that is what FIFA does. Their decisions are unappealable," said Maradiaga, whose team was whistled for 23 fouls. "The referee today expelled Gustavo Cabrera as a way to level the game after expelling Cherundolo." Are you kidding me? Does their idiot coach really feel that Ruiz should be allowed to kick our goalkeeper in the head? Here is what Howard had to say about it.... "Carlos kicked me straight in my head," Howard said. "With Carlos you expect that. He is dirty. I wish I could say it otherwise, but he's played MLS for five years and I've seen him." Ruiz, who did not speak with reporters after the match, apologized to Howard. "That's what he does. I think you would rather have someone man up and say, 'Look, I don't like you. I am going to kick you. I'm going to do all that.' You can almost respect it in a funny way," Howard said. "He has this way about him. He kicks. He punches. ... And he wants to come and be your friend. There is no place for it." The replay clearly showed Cabrera elbow Eddie Lewis in the head. He didn't even try to argue against the red card. You could tell he expected it. Maradiaga is a tool. Good teams find a way to win. Losers make excuses. I still remember during the qualifiers for the 2002 world cup Ruiz slide tackling Kasey Keller, which was an obvious red card, and then scoring a minute later. I guess Maradiaga expected the ref the head the match to Guatemala. In fairness he probably could have had a legit complaint about the no call on Pearce's handball, but he chooses to whine about 2 correct decisions. If anyone has a youtube clip of the handball I'd like to see it. The espn announcers weren't sure if it was intentional, but that could just be their bias.
It's just gamesmanship my friend. Ramon Maradiaga is no idiot. He knows that was a red card offense. You won't see many more obvious red cards in CONCACAF qualification. I actually agree with him about one point. CONCACAF refs are incompetent morons. The Howard-Ruiz incident was interesting. Ruiz did drag his leg, but the contact didn't look that bad. The ref must have blown the whistle right away, which Howard heard. So Tim just threw the ball away. I didn't hear a whistle, though. Howard is a very very good goalkeeper who had the ball in his hands. He would never just toss the ball at the feet of an attacker for no reason. The US know Ruiz, they know how to deal with him. He didn't cause many problems last night. Their wingers were the real danger last night.
What a terrible game to watch last night, just plain ugly. Guate players were just ridiculous, flopping around like they'd been shot, even Pando got a yellow for acting....ridiculous. Can't really say much about ruiz that we haven't already heard they call the guy the fish for a reason. Guatemala wins the award for most unattractive and unsporting soccer in Concacaf BY FAR.
Crazy_malinche...I mean Yank.... talk about crybabies.... you even open a post to express your feminine hatred. there already a discussion going on about the game on other boards but your feminine side had to come out the closet some how.